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Melbourne, Jan 28 (IANS)
Defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka powered past World No.5 Kei Nishikori with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(6) victory to reach the Australian Open tennis semifinals here Wednesday.
In a repeat of 2014 US Open quarterfinal, defending champion Stan Wawrinka took on No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori for a place in the last four. Wawrinka served magnificently and did not let the Japanese No. 1 have any momentum on his serve in the opening set. The Swiss broke early in the fourth game to go 3-1 up. A solitary break for sufficient for Wawrinka to wrap up the first set as he won 89 % points on his first serve.
There was no break point chances for Nishikori on Wawrinka’s serve until the last game of the second set. Wawrinka held firm saving three break points to lead by two sets to love. The US Open runner up did show signs of a fight in the third set tie breaker as he saved five match points. However, Stan the man was too good for Nishikori as he progressed to the semifinal in straight sets.
Wawrinka would face the winner of the clash between No.1 Novak Djokovic and No.8 Milos Raonic in the semi-final.
